Misty (31/10/2010 – 21/8/2016); aka Misty Moo, Moo, Moo Moo, Whiskery Moo, Misty Poppy Pumpkin, Misky, Moosticks.
I acquired Misty for all the wrong reasons. The day after my Biggles passed away (6/1/2011) I was in work and pretty depressed, and at lunchtime I went out to a nearby Pet Superstore and bought Misty. It wasn’t exactly that I sought to replace Biggles – I couldn’t -but there was a hole in my household I needed to fill, and so I did. I never regretted it for an instant, and I am happy to have shared my life with Misty these years.
There was confusion over her sex at first: the shop actually rang me at home and confirmed she was female, not male. I was going to call her Poppy, or Pumpkin, but my friend Elaine poo poohed the idea and decided Misty was more appropriate –“ because she was a mysterious looking girl.” Because of her colouring and mask – a beautiful black and white English.
Misty wasn’t cuddly, but the one thing she did like to do as a baby was sit flat on my chest when I lay on the sofa. She was very friendly though, and the two boys at the time -Max and Thumper -loved her immediately. My other female Beth became her deadly rival, and I had to separate them at first till Misty grew up, and they later came to tolerate one another.
Misty, Max and Tump were a lifelong friendship though., which lasted till the end of their respective days. The three would sit in perfect arrow formation, nose to nose, any visitors commenting on them, and nicknaming them “The Three Musketeers.” At night Misty and Thump would nest together in my kitchen in their rugs and box. At night if I got down on the floor and nuzzled or kissed one of them the other would immediately nudge me for the same. I would comply, and then I would get a nudge from the other. And so it would go on, nudge for a kiss until I decided enough was enough.
As I acquired other bunnies the three of them formed a sort of benevolent dictatorship, sitting in arrow formation while the young ‘uns binkied and ran riot around them. If it got out of hand or there was a challenge of some sort Tump and/ or Misty would put them in their place in a half- hearted sort of way (Max being far too laid back) and peace would reign again. The fact that the three were inseparable allies maintained order in a wonderful way.
Misty was robust too. The only health problem I remember was when I noticed a hole in her tummy -essentially, and without noticing – she had developed an abscess, and it had burst and drained cleanly. The vet simply shrugged – it was healing over fine too, and never re-emerged.
She was a friendly, even tempered, gentle giant. Misty had a lovely temperament, and if she didn’t like being handled overmuch, was nevertheless was very loving, and would lick you and give you attention when you gave it to her. She also ate like a horse.
When Tump passed over she, like me, became a little lost: the balance was upset somewhat. When Max passed a year later in early 2016 even more so. She still had a very good and loyal little friend though -my youngest, a sweet little Dutch called Flash. Flash came to her rescue, and essentially treated her like Big Sister or Mum – she loved her. Flash would play dead on top of her, or play dead with Misty lying on top of her, and groom her endlessly.
At this time Misty’s health problem emerged – a nasty set of abcesses on one hind flank. These required surgery to remove, and hence a collar and indoor hutch confinement when I was out. When I was in she would sit on the sofa with me and Flash, and this became her new Domain. She was a real sofa bunny, burrowing with Flash under the various throws, and defending her turf against other bunnies seeking to encroach. Even when she’d healed this was what she preferred, to the point that when I went out I would physically put her on the floor to play with Flash: inevitably she would be back on the sofa when I returned.
During these times when I had a weekend off (about once a month) I would visit a couple of friends, Pete and Jen, whose rabbit Paddy had recently lost his partner. As she was recuperating and had not been out in my garden as much, I would take her with me, as they have a lawn and nice outdoor rabbit run. On the three occasions when I took her she quite happily sat in the sunshine, with Paddy displaying alternate curiosity and timidity. Jen I think, especially took to her.
A few months later the abcesses started to re-emerge, and she had a second bout of surgery. This time I kept her on antibiotics, and added numerous antibiotic herbs to her diet. It seemed to work, and this time the issue kept under control. She continued to play and love Flash, and the sofa.
But around the 12th August she lost her appetite. I went through the usual cycle of syringe feeding and medication, and started adding probiotics to her diet, and finally eased off the antibiotic. Being a big bunny, she became weaker on about the 17th, and I actually thought she was going to die: Elaine kept vigil while I went to work. I eliminated the Baytril entirely, and intensified the syringe feeding to hopefully give her weight and physical strength again. She did seem to rally, and with a few days off I was managing to give her solid greens every hour also. On Saturday 20th she was actually picking of her own violition.
After watching an old episode of Morse on iplayer with her I slept on the sofa: Misty was in one of my hay filled indoor cages next to me, as I had wheeled the stand over. I woke just after 1 am, and as I dozed off again I played with her ears, and heard her munching on the greens I had left: carrot top greens were her very favorite thing. I woke up again at four thirty and she had gone: she was still warm. I wrapped and cuddled her body, the heavy rain outside acting like a mirror to my thoughts and temperament. Later on little Flash nuzzled and licked her body dolefully.
I suppose in the end, as rabbits do, as did Max, she knew that her biological clock was ticking near its end: and so it was.
And so passed my beautiful girl. I had her almost her whole life, and I tried my best to make her happy. She was a good friend, to me and to my other buns, and the house is very quiet today. I love her and hope she is in a happier place, in arrow formation with her best mates once again.

From: SteveDate: 8/21/2016 3:20:56 PMMy friend Paul offered the following;
"Sorry to hear of another loss- at least you were together at the end."

From: SteveDate: 8/21/2016 6:27:27 PMMy friend Rachel replied as follows: "Ah, Steve. Sad to hear you've lost another little friend, and I know as one of the original from your warren that it will feel particularly sad. Sounds like Misty had a peaceful end."

From: SteveDate: 9/2/2016 10:59:14 AMI did my weekly shop at the supermarket today and this reminded me of Misty. One friday morning earlier in the year, I had taken her to the vet for something, and decided to do my shop afterwards. rather than leave her in the car I put her carrier in the trolley,put a coat over the top and hoped no one would notice. As I piled up greens around her she sat quite happily, her nose twitching and peering up at me form time to time,
The staff know I buy a lot of greens for rabbits, but I didn't know their store's attitude to animals inside - it's certainly no dogs - and so I was playing safe; I'd only be 10 minutes anyway, I don't hang about.
The following week I was shopping there again. The lady at the counter said "No rabbit this week?"